Health and Well-being Blog

Challenge completed In November I set myself a challenge of doing a blog for every day in January 2022. My plan was to prepare the blogs in advance and then I took on extra work of delivering. I never got the blogs done, but I did not back out on my challenge. Today is the 31st of January and I have completed 31 blogs. How do I feel? I feel proud that I completed my challenge.  Was it a challenge? Yes I had to work around other commitments, continue to promote my business, train for the Pennine way, laptop issues and also what content to write about. Who held me accountable? Me, over the last few years, I have learnt to be accountable to myself to know that I am doing the best I can to allow me to achieve my mission.  The most important thing is I stuck at it and completed the challenge. I will continue the blogs but not on a daily basis, I will now go to twice weekly. If there is any specific topic you would like me to blog about please do comment below.  Do you set your...

Lets get walking At the beginning of January 2022, I started a free walk in my local community. To allow people to improve both their physical and mental health. I wanted to share my passion and show people what fun you can have while out on walks and how to become aware of the local environment. On the first walk we had 28 people attend and it's increasing each week, they are making new friends, seeing areas of their town that they have never seen. I also love that they support each other through challenging areas going over streams, over styles and picking litter up on the way. When I plan the walk, I aim for it to be between an hour and hour and half long to allow us to be able to achieve 10000 steps on the day.  I am training for the Pennine Way with a group of ladies in August and we have to increase our miles to be able to deal with the challenge ahead.  Do you go walking?  Where do you go? How many steps do you do each day?  Benefits of walking 10000 steps If ...

  Levels of consciousness Dr David Hawkins explains in his book Power vs Force about the emotional vibration.  The range goes from 20 which is shame to 1000 which is enlightenment.  Power ranges from 200 to 1000 and under to 200 is force.  The aim in life is to achieve a vibration of 500 which is love.  The USA army vibrate at a level of 175 which is pride.  Below is a diagram to show the explanation of Dr David Hawkins findings. Dr David Hawkins explaining consciousness

When challenges happen? How do you react when challenges happen? I used to explore, scream and shout.  Over the last few years while working on my behaviour, I realised that this was my chimp, because we felt out of control.  Tonight my computer as stopped working, which is frustrating because I have so much work to do. Can I control the situation No, but I can control how I react to it.  I am typing this blog from my phone, so I can keep on track with a blog a day. I still have times when frustration kicks in with not being in control, but over all I manage the chimp well.  I will explain more about the chimp in future blogs, but for now, I will go and read a book and have an IT free evening. 😀 

 How do you interpret your life experiences?   When we go through life, we look back on experiences and complain about why did it happen to me, why did they do that to me.  This changes our personality, making us angry, making us feel depression and anxiety this can eventually ruin your life and can turn into chronic illnesses.  Learning to forgive can allow you to release the emotions as Les Brown says "Let it go to allow you to grow" What is your social circle like? Take a look around, do they allow you to go over and over how life is so bad or do they encourage you to be the best you can in life, allowing you to deal with challenges in the best way.  Getting Unstuck If you want to change the way you interpret your life, book a call with Jo  Change my Interpretation

  Do you make things happen? For a long time, I would complain about my life situation I was in, I would never make a step to change.  Why because of FEAR.  Since 2017, I have made an emphasis of trying to push myself out of my comfort zone trying to canoe and kayak aiming for moving water. I sometimes failed at this but as we know, failure is not a bad thing it is the First Attempt In Learning.  I really do not like the feeling of being uncomfortable - heart racing, feeling sick, mind working overtime.  Then in 2020, I met Adam, I had some sessions with him, to work on my mindset a little and then in December 2020 he actually got me on moving water. Was it plain sailing "no" I had meltdowns.  Why do I do this?  Why do I push myself this way, so that I can learn to feel comfortable being uncomfortable. This will allow me to be able to deal with challenging situations in my life, in a calmer way.  Tonight, I have been on a zoom call with Adam ...

                                Do you Procrastinate?        What is Procrastination?             According to Collins Dictionary  VERB If you  procrastinate , you  keep   leaving  things you should do until later, often because you do not  want  to do them. [ formal ] Most often we procrastinate when faced with something we do not want to do. Why do you procrastinate? Here are some reasons you will procrastinate  Due to fear of failure or  criticism Over committing setting unrealistic goals Perfectionism A disconnect with your self concept Low self esteem Avoiding challenges What can you do to get over procrastination?   First identify your reason for procrastinating.  If is due to fear of failure and criticism, remember that FAIL is the First Attempt In Learning and accordi...

  Do you feel lost? I felt this for such a long time, feeling that "there must be more to life" feeling stuck in a rut. If you fail to acknowledge and deal with the feelings this can have detrimental effects on your life.  When you feel lost, you can suffer with anxiety, stress, anger (due to frustration) and depression. I know I did, I also did a lot of looking back to the past, at times that I was happy, mine was at school and I even organised a school reunion on my own to get the feeling back.  When you're feeling lost, take heart. It's just your brain gathering the information it needs to make good decisions.   Josh Kaufman To allow you lose the feeling of being lost, you have to explore who you truly are, what is your purpose and your beliefs.  Once you know that, you can then look around at your life and see how you can transform your life to ensure that you are achieving your purpose.  Once you know what your beliefs are and what your purpose is you ...

  A weekend of walking This weekend I have had lots of walking, developing my navigational skills and organising walks for the local community to allow them to get out and be active.  The walks were very different but both were fun. On Saturday, Gill, Tumay and myself used the skills we learnt on the navigational course we completed in December to prepare for the Pennine Way Challenge. We didn't get lost, the walk was an easy one but we checked our location on the map regular so we could confirm our location.  On Sunday, I recently started a free walk in my local community, to allow any one who wishes to join to allow them to get healthier, make new friends, find new locations to walk. Each week the walk is growing and today we had 40 people attend.  There are all fitness levels, the group is great, I don't lead, I am a guide each person is responsible for their own wellbeing. Todays walk had a couple of challenging bits and they were dealt with in a safe and se...

  My Big Challenge this year In August 2022, I will be completing a challenge with a group of ladies who are wanting to also challenge themselves.to complete the Pennine Way.  The Pennine way is 266 miles long but they say usually people walk around 253 miles. We are walking it between 14 and 20 days. In the group we have various levels of fitness and are working a way to allow each lady to complete in the way that is best for them.  To allow us to complete this challenge, we are having to do lots of training getting miles in our legs, practicing to carry a rucksack with our equipment in and we have to develop our navigational skills.  In December a group of ladies attended a navigational training course to allow us to learn the skills, and now we are planning walks together to develop the skills and become more confident using them.  Today I am off to do this walk  Knaresborough, Nidd Gorge and Old Bilton Circular  with Tumay and Gill to practice our ...

My life and the comfort zone Through my life, I have always pushed myself a little with attending courses to further my knowledge, feeling uncomfortable but pushing through it, to see what I could achieve. But back in 2012 I was introduced to the Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters and realised that in other areas of my life, my chimp had been in control and I had ran away from challenges and the opportunities of stepping out of my comfort zone due the the uncomfortable feeling of FEAR.  In 2017, I made a decision to change this and to start pushing myself to see what I can achieve. It's not been plain sailing, there have been times where I have not taken a risk but I definitely do more than I did.  How do I get out of my comfort zone? In 2017, I started learning how to canoe and kayak, this was something I enjoyed when younger and had not had a chance to do after being introduced to it again in 2016, I made the decision to work towards becoming a competent paddler. This as had...

What is a comfort zone? According to Collins Dictionary it is  a   situation   or position in which a person   feels   secure ,   comfortable , or in   control ,  encouraging people to work outside their comfort zone. A comfort zone is a place that people stay in during their life. Where everything feels comfortable, with no fear or discomfort. Things become the same and life can become dull and you may feel stuck in a rut.  Ways to step out of your comfort zone?  Challenge yourself to change your routine Work on developing yourself intellectually Improve your nutrition Develop your fitness routine Become creative to develop ideas of stepping out of your comfort zone Do you know your values? Do you stick to your values or do you explore them to allow you to dig a little deeper? Do you challenge yourself? Do you take risks?  Do you face your fears? What happens when you step outside your comfort zone? You will feel scared You will FA...

  Late last year I was told about a post for a wellbeing and engagement manager post with Petrus by a friend of one of my sons.  He sent me the link for the post and I took a look at it, the role was part-time which was great, I could work alongside my coaching business and it would also allow me to support more people at risk of developing chronic illnesses by reducing anxiety and depression allowing them to transform their life.  Petrus is a charity that supports the homeless to change their life by allowing the clients to learn skills to  empower them to take control of their life.  I had my interview yesterday, which was my first interview in the last 12 months. Part of the interview was a presentation, which I prepared for and I was nervous but using the tools that I have learnt over the last few years the nerves were kept under control and I stayed calm. During the interview, I was honest and was true to myself.  After the interview, my mind started t...

  Excuses and Triggers   Have you been trying to get healthy? Do you feel like you never get to achieve your goal?   This can be down to your excuses and triggers; you also have to want to achieve the goal. Do you truly desire it? If you don’t the excuses will come.   Do you know your excuses? Do you know what your triggers are?   Every day we go through a range of emotions, from joy, anger frustration, disappointment and confusion these are just a few. Behind the excuses there will be triggers and some of the triggers may be Rejection Betrayal Challenged beliefs Being out of control Being excluded or ignored Disapproval or criticism   When you make excuses, this is the greatest way to give up on your desire to change. You will find so many reasons on why you can give up I don’t have the time I’m not fit enough It is too hard to fit in   This can become a problem when you believe the excuses and give up, ...

  Values and Mission   What are your Values?   Have you ever sat and thought about your true values?   Taking the time to understand who and what your values are allows you to make decisions that will align with you. Your values are what will drive you to keep on track, when you do something that feels wrong you may be working against one of your values.   Here are some examples of values: Acceptance Adaptability Consistency Charm Commitment   There are many more.   Developing your personal mission statement A Personal Mission statement "provides clarity and gives you a sense of purpose" It describes your objectives or goals, your priorities and your values. It will be a sentence or short paragraph which is written by you and reflects your objectives, identity, values and principle aims. Taking time to explore your values, will help you develop your personal mission statement, you then have the compass for your lif...

The six human needs Tony Robbins identified the six human needs that we require to ensure we are motivated to fulfil and are the basis that we make choices are the following:   The first four needs are the needs of the personality also known as the EGO and they are needs that a human must have met on a daily basis. Certainty – A need for safety, stability, comfort, order, predictability, control and consistency Uncertainty/variety – the need for variety, surprise, challenges, excitement, difference, chaos, adventure, change and novelty These 2 are like a see saw and work with each other, if you get too much certainty, you will get bored and if you get to much uncertainty, you will crave a bit more certainty of predictability Significance – the need to have a meaning, to be special, unique, pride, needed, wanted, sense of importance, worthy of love and respect Love/connection – the need for communication, unified, approval, attachment, intimacy, to be loved by other ...

  What is self-concept? self-concept according to the Collins dictionary is the whole set of attitudes, opinions, and cognitions that a person has of himself or herself. You may find you are always in a constant state of self-evaluation and comparison. Comparing Yourself can cause you problems with your self-esteem.   An individual’s self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change. A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.   Joyce Brothers   If you don’t have a self-conception to work towards, you will not try anything in life, which then in turn propagates ideas of low self-worth and low self-esteem. If you have no self-conception, you may never have been taught how to visualise yourself this way, nor were you taught by example.   How can you use having a self-concept to your advantage? You can develop a...

  What is self-worth? Self-worth is what you believe your intrinsic value is as an individual. What is Intrinsic value is a measure of what you are worth.   This doesn’t always accurately reflect who you are at the core and who we are willing to be.   “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”   Buddha   The value you place upon yourself depends on your upbringing, and whether you were brought up people encouraging you or were you constantly put down.   Trista Sutter discusses our value system and how we allow judgment and societal success get in the way of our self-worth. In life we get caught up with money, status and how popular we are but let’s make an effort to stop and think about what truly matters when determining people’s worth: their kindness, compassion, empathy, respect for others, and how well they treat those around them. Do you control your inner critic? The chimp?  Who says “You are not w...